Many financial advisers believe that 2012 is going to be a crazy year. They want to discourage investors from getting carried away with complex investment strategies. Here are some tips from some financial experts as head into the New Year.

Walter Updegrave of CNN said that investors should strive to keep things simple. He said that 2011 proved that speculation was a loser’s game. Frankly, I feel he has a good point. In the United States, the S&P 500 index didn’t change at all over the entire year. Investors in other countries can tell you that anyone holding stocks in the S&P were the lucky ones.

Buying on the basis of speculation is clearly dangerous in a time when we are facing such volatility and uncertainty. However, Updegrave posted a few key points that you should take into consideration as you get ready for investing in the coming year:

1. Don’t be paranoid about a bond bubble. Many people were starting to panic about the possibility that we would witness a bond market bubble. This never happened in 2011, despite many people’s fears. Bonds still appear to be a safe investment. One thing that Updegrave didn’t mention that I feel must be underscored is this: not all bonds may be perfectly safe. U.S. treasury bonds have been a safe haven for more investors than ever, despite the downgrade of the United States credit rating. As more investors flock to treasuries, it is possible that they may a bubble waiting to burst. It’s too early to tell, but it is something you are going to have to watch over the coming year.
2. Stocks remain a fair investment. Although many stock markets didn’t fair well this past year, much of that was attributed to a number of terrible events that had a profound impact on the current economy. These included the tsunami in Japan and the downgrade of the United States debt rating. Also, there were fears that the United States would be entering a new recession. Considering all of these problems, investors did fairly well. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you should eliminate stocks from your portfolio.
3. Don’t forget the European debt crisis. This is the biggest challenge that investors are going to have to deal with, which Updegrave failed to mention. Nobody knows exactly how the debt crisis is going to play out. Before you buy any long-term investments, you are going to have to be very careful about how the debt crisis may play out. Even though there may not be a bubble for bonds, you need to be careful about what kinds of bonds and other debt instruments you purchase if there is going to be a credit crunch stemming from the banking crisis in Europe.

Updegrave made a few good points about how to invest in the coming year. The only concern I have with his advice is that he neglects to consider how the problems in Europe will pan out. As you hold your investments, I would keep an eye on them and see what happens over there. Personally, I would stay away from any long-term bonds from any European country, regardless of what interest rate they are charging. Otherwise, you probably have many great investing prospects as we move into 2012!